GB athlete is already training with Newcastle Falcons after deciding to take a
break from the track

Jack Green, the 2011 European Under-23 400 metres hurdles champion and a key member of Britain’s 4 x 400m relay squad at the London Olympics, is contemplating a switch to rugby union after announcing on Tuesday that he was taking a break from athletics following a year-long bout of depression.

The 22-year-old, who called an early end to his 2013 season in July citing “a lot of personal issues”, revealed that he would not be taking up his place on the Lottery-funded World Class Performance Programme in 2014.

Instead, he has been training with Newcastle Falcons in recent weeks as he looks for a new outlet for his physical talents after experiencing a torrid summer on the track during which he failed to finish three races and dropped from second to seventh in the UK rankings.

It is understood that his mental health problems rather than his rugby ambitions are behind his decision to quit the track next year but the Maidstone-born athlete is also keen to discover how far he can progress as a rugby player. He also hopes to benefit psychologically from training and playing in a team environment.

Were he to make it as an elite player, he would be the first top-level track athlete to complete the transition since Nigel Walker joined Cardiff in 1992 after a career as a 110m hurdler. He went on to win 17 caps as a wing for Wales, scoring 12 tries before his final appearance against England in 1998.

In a frank statement about the mental issues he has been battling, Green said: “Those close to me and working with me know I have been suffering with depression over the last year and, despite a full recovery, I believe a break is necessary for my mental health.

“Athletics at the top level requires an application that I had, disappointingly, not been able to give it in recent times, which made life both on and off the track extremely difficult for me and I need to step back for a period of time.

“I wanted to be open and honest about my reasons for taking this break.

“I have been lucky to be so well supported during this time by the British Athletics support staff, but I realise this can be a difficult subject matter and if me being honest offers anyone else some support then that can only be a good thing.

“I’d like to thank the British Athletics performance team, including my coach Malcolm Arnold, for their support and understanding leading up to this difficult decision.”

Green announced himself as one of Britain’s most exciting young track prospects when he won 400m hurdles gold at the 2011 European Under-23 Championships in Ostrava in the Czech Republic.

The following year he qualified for his first Olympic Games where he reached the semi-finals before tripping over a hurdle on the back straight and failing to finish the race.

He also ran the second leg in the Olympic 4 x 400m final, in which the British team finished an agonising fourth, just 0.13 sec behind the bronze medal winners.

But Green, who trains alongside 2011 world 400m hurdles champion Dai Greene in Bath, endured a difficult campaign last summer, running two seconds slower than his personal best from 2012 and failing to finish his heat at the European Under-23 Championships in Tampere, Finland in July. He immediately called a halt to his season, saying he had experienced “the worst year of my life”.

Michael Caulfield, one of Britain’s leading sport psychologists, said symptoms of depression were often exaggerated in athletes because of the extreme intensity and focus in their lives.

“All of us have a period in life when you’re feeling less big and less confident than you normally are,” he said. “If you live entirely for your sport and it begins to desert you whether through form, fitness, confidence or age even, that’s when it can exacerbate the feeling of being low. We saw a terrible example recently where [the England cricketer] Jonathan Trott was basing his life on his batting average, and then of course it deserted him.

“I think that exacerbates the dark periods of your life because it’s taken away from you.”